When looking at the latest numbers for the month of September 2006 for the North Scottsdale Real Estate Market you continue to notice the slowdown. When I compare the numbers with September 2005, you will see what I mean.

Septemeber 2005; Number of homes Listed For Sale - 710

                            Number Sold During the month - 178

                            Number of days frm Listing to Pending or Sold - 59

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Now look at last month;

September 2006 Number of Listings - 1295

Number of homes that Sold last month - 94 and

Numbers of days from Listing to Pending or Sold - 139.

The number of Active Listings (homes for sale) and days from Listing to selling have almost doubled and the number of selling is almost 1/2 of what is was a year ago.

The good news is that homes are still selling! Because of the increase in inventory we are seeing buyers looking at more homes before they make the decision to buy and Sellers having to make their home more desirable to potential buyers. But if yours is that special home, your chances of finding a buyer greatly increases, meaning you can now move on. Take the time to look at homes listed in your neighborhood, finding out what homes have sold for and sprucing your home up and you will probably see the results fairly quickly.

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This Saturday, that is 3 days from now, I am off for a week of flyfishing in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. I know you are all jealous, but before I go, I wanted to let you know the reason there will not be a new post next week.

Instead of a post, think about this for a week:Â When I return my next mailing to Monterra, Candlewood, Desert Crown & Troon Verde will cover the following topic: Using your IRA to purchase real estate, tax-deferred!

I will also start putting information on this blog, so hope to hear from you early October.

Have a good week & wish me luck!

Ed

Some of you may know that I send mailers (we call it Farming) to your Subdivisions to keep you up-to-date on the North Scottsdale Real Estate Market and the Market in your Subdivision. There are four (4) Subdivisions I actively ‘Farm”. They are Monterra, Candlewood Estates, Troon Verde & Desert Crown. I chose these communities because they represent the market in North Scottsdale, where I specialize.Â

Monterra has both a gated and non-gated section and is comprised of 137 homesites, with most being built out. I lived the for 2 years when I originally moved to AZ and am very familiar with the community. I chose Candlewood, because that is where I now live and realize the homeowners there do not always get information about the market. From what I have seen since living here, most everything is from an agent when they either ‘List’ or ‘Sell’ a home and I figured the homeowners in Candlewood, along with the other communities needed to know the status of the market so they can make informed decisions. The last two I ‘Farm’ are Troon Verde, small gated community and Desert Crown, both just east of Troon North. These two have great opportunities for 2nd home owners as they have somewhat reasonable prices, for N Scottsdale.Â

Here is the market update by community:

Monterra: 5 For Sale, 1 Under Contract, amd 9 selling since the beginning of the year. The Average Sales Price is $1,052,000 and homes have stayed on the market for 123 days. Now the Avg Sales Price may not be truely representative of the Monterra market, because 1 sold for $1.5M. If you remove that from the mix, the Avg Sales Price is now $940,000 and days Listed 93. This is more representative of Monterra.

Candlewood: 22 For Sale, 3 Under Contract with 9 selling since the beginning of the year at an Avg Sales Price of $1,429,000 and staying on the market 118 days.

Desert Crown: 5 For Sale, none Under Contract and 3 selling since the beginning of the year at an Avg Sales Price of $974,000 and staying on the market 63 days.

Troon Verde: 4 For Sale, none Under Contract and 4 selling since the beginning of the year, with an Avg Sales Price of $818,000 and staying on the market 192 days. Now if you adjsut this for the 1 much higher priced home that sold the Avg Sale Price drops to $707,000 and days Active drops to 108. This is more representative of the Troon Verde Market.

Hope this helps & I will try to keep everyone updated on my ‘Farming’ areas.

Everyone is probably wondering how the N Scottsdale real estate market did for August 2006. Well I have the answer for you. We will look at Single Family Residentals homes sold by month for the past 3 months in N Scottsdale (N of the Loop 101);

August    89 Sold

July        75 Sold

June      126 Sold

There was a big decrease from June to July, but slight increase in August, when compared with July’s Sold. This shows you that homes are still selling on a average of about 3 a day. Now most who have followed this blog know I track the Absorption Rate (AR) for N Scottsdale. Let’s look at August’s numbers compared to 3 months ago.  The AR for August was 7.5 months and the AR for June was 6.4 months, an increase of over a month. As you recall this means it would now take 7.5 months to deplete the current inventory of homes for sale, assuming nothing new is listed.  And we know that is not going to happen.

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Here are 5 more Buyer Tips to help with the Buying process. I hope these Tips will help and also be able to answer your questions.

 1.         Get a copy of the Arizona Buyer’s Advisory and a sample real estate contract from your agent and review this critical information. All good Buyer Broker’s should provide you with this information so you know exactly what to expect during the process here in Arizona. Be sure to take time to read the information and review the contract. The Buyers Advisory is available on-line and has numerous links to websites that will answer most of your questions, plus vital information about the Buying process.

2.         Go out with your agent on a trial run to view properties that fall within the criteria you gave. Give honest feedback after viewing each home so your agent gets an accurate feel for your likes and dislikes. Most Buyers alter their criteria some once they start looking at houses because either they cannot find what they want in the price range or location. This also lets your agent know what is important to you in a home, which will allow him/her to just show you homes that meet your criteria and not waste your time.

3.         Adjust your criteria as necessary to keep the process moving forward. As previously mentioned, most Buyers will adjust their criteria. They may see something they now want in a home or find items they can live without. Your agent will do everything he/she can to find a home that matches all your criteria, but lets be honest, that usually does not exist, unless of course your build a home.

4.         Be loyal to your agent so long as they are meeting the expectations you addressed in the initial meeting. Your agent is spending a lot of time researching, previewing and running ‘comps’ for you, so be loyal to him/her as he/she is devoted to you. If you are thinking of visiting Open Houses or New Construction, call your agent so they can go with you, otherwise they will not get paid for any work performed & you will not be represented! Do you want to make the biggest purchase of your life without someone, your agent, help to guide you through the process and look out for your interests?

5.         Hire me as your Buyer Broker. I have been trained to represent buyers in this changing market and I am a skilled negotiator here to work on your behalf! I specialize in the North Scottsdale, CAve Creek, Carefree areas and am out daily, keeping up with inventory.

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N Scottsdale real estate market update: we are seeing Sellers still asking higher prices thinking the market will catch up with their price and thus homes are staying on the market longer. To go with this, we are seeing Buyers thinking Sellers will be getting more anxious to sell, so the are holding off, waiting for sellers to lower prices! Go Figure!

I have talked before about Tips for Sellers to help them get their home ready to sell and to actually get it sold, once listed. Here are 5 tips to help Buyers interested in N Scottsdale homes for sale get what they want:

1.         Set up a face-to-face meeting with your agent in his/her office. You need to meet with your agent to make sure they understand your wants & desires and to make sure you can work together.

2.         Tell the agent what you are looking for in a home. Be as specific as possible.  If your agent has a home search survey, fill this out with as much detail as possible. Be realistic on what you have to have vs. what you would like to have. The more you tell your agent the narrower they can make your search, so you are not looking at properties that do not meet your needs. Know before hand what you are willing to live without. I have sold a number of homes & have yet to find EXACTLY all the amenities the Buyer wants, they always have to compromise on something, so know where you are willing to give.

3.         Talk about the expectations you have of a Buyer Broker:
a.     Availability (how often you expect to meet and see homes). Are you on a tight schedule to find a home, if so, let your agent know so he can allocate the time to spend with you.

b.    Typical days/hours you available to see properties. Is it better to look in the morning, afternoon, weekends or weekdays?
c.     Communicate if you also plan on looking on-line and through open houses. Let your agent know if you intend to look on-line (which 77% of you will) and if you plan on stopping by Open Houses or new construction. Your agent is investing a lot of time into helping you find that perfect home and they will not get paid for their time, unless they represent you as a buyer. So if you plan on going by Open house or new construction, CALL your agent first and most will meet you there of at least take their card & do not register, if your agent is not available.

d.  Your agent may give you a few guidelines to follow here. The most important would be to call if you have any questions, or are stopping by new construction or looking at open houses. Be honest with your desires and about your financial history.Â

4.         Ask the agent about the expectations they have of you as a buyer. It is important for both parties to feel that the expectations set can be met in full! Your agent is doing a lot of work for you behind the scenes, researching properties, previewing, talking to agents, etc., so you should discuss your committment to your agent, as well as their committment to you.

5.         Get pre-qualified with a lender prior to starting your search so you know exactly what you can afford and to obtain the required Loan Status Report. I can provide you with a list of several reliable lenders! The Arizona Resale Purchase contract requires that a Loan Status Report be submitted with ALL offers that will involve financing.  If you have not gotten one filled out by your lender before you start looking for homes you may find your perfect home, but loose it because you did not have your Loan Status Report filled out. If you need one, talk to your agent and they will provide one for you.

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